The Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens face off in arguably the best game of the NFL Week 17 slate. The two teams both lead their division, and the Dolphins can wrap up the AFC East with a win while the Ravens can clinch the AFC North and the No. 1 seed and first-round bye. Ahead of the game, both teams are speaking highly of the other, including Miami defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who is in awe of Lamar Jackson.
“Yeah, fair share mobile quarterbacks? Yes. Then there’s Lamar Jackson. He’s unlike anybody else,” Fangio told reporters, per Pro Football Talk. “The only other player that’s been like him in the last 50 years is Michael Vick. He’s a tremendous player. Kudos to Ozzie [Newsome] and Eric [DeCosta] for picking him. Thirty-one other teams that passed him by are kicking themselves. He’s really improved over the years. Dynamic with the ball. Good passer. He makes their offense go.”
As the Dolphins and Ravens get ready to square off in Week 17, Vic Fangio finding a way to stop — or at least slow down — Lamar Jackson will be a (if not the) key to the game.
When asked about his specific strategy to defend the Ravens QB, Fangio said, “there’s no one way to play him,” so he will have to do everything possible to keep Baltimore from moving up and down the field.
Lamar Jackson was a steal in the 2018 NFL Draft
The story Fangio is referring to is that Jackson, a Heisman Trophy winner out of Louisville, dropped to pick No. 32 in the 2018 NFL Draft. He was the last player taken in a first round that saw QBs Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, and Josh Rosen go before him.
Miami picked 11th that season and took safety Minkah Fitzpatrick while starting Ryan Tannehill and Brock Osweiler at quarterback that season.
Since then, Jackson has had, by far, the most individual success, winning the 2019 NFL MVP Award and being the frontrunner for the honor again this season. And only Allen has had team success on par with Jackson.
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